Season 5

October 8, 2003

When he realizes that his first choice for Vice President faces an uphill fight for nomination, Jed nominates a congressman that none of the staff can get excited about; Josh is less than thrilled with his new intern.

October 22, 2003

Josh fails to sway an unruly congressman who insists on voting against the administration on the vice presidential confirmation, but Ryan reaches out to get him to change his mind; Leo fears that the potential defection of a prominent North Korean pianist will jeopardize secret nuclear disarmament talks; Will and Toby are humiliated when an early draft of a speech outlining their struggle to laud Bob Russell's confirmation is erroneously substituted for the final version; Donna's aunt and uncle from Wisconsin pay a visit, testing Josh's ability to refrain from bad cheesehead jokes during their tour of the White House; the staff struggles over how to language the state of the economy; fearing that the administration is drifting off-course, Toby wants to hand over more responsibilities to Will in order to focus on getting back to their core message.

October 29, 2003

Will Bailey receives an offer to become Vice President Russell's top aide. Amy Gardner does some skillful lobbying for domestic violence prevention which gets the wrath of Bartlet. A conservative democratic senator switches parties.

November 5, 2003

The fallout on the Hill from Carrick's switch to the Republican party exiles Josh deep into a White House doghouse, so C.J. gives Donna some tips on how she can support him; Jed gets a harsh reality check from C.J. when he lingers too long in a small Oklahoma town devastated by a deadly tornado; in Jed's absence, Leo juggles an impending war between Albania and Greece, a visit from the German chancellor, a tussle over tax cuts, and an over-reaching Secretary of Defense; Josh and Toby are less than thrilled when Leo brings Angela on board to assume some of Josh's responsibilities.

November 12, 2003

As Chief Justice Ashland's health problems continue to mount, Joe Quincy, Ashland's former clerk, is pressed into service to persuade him to retire; as C.J. prepares Zoey for a sit-down interview about her kidnapping, Abbey reveals that her relationship with her husband is still strained; Jed refuses to be held hostage by the Republican in the budget negotiations.

November 19, 2003

Jed's decision not to be held hostage by Haffley shuts down the federal government; unable to get through to Jed and fearing the worst, Leo calls in the reinforcements, and Abbey returns to Washington to deliver a message and provide her husband with a little perspective; after being benched from the staff meetings, Josh gets put back in the game by Jed and sets the stage for victory; disregarding the advice of more seasoned colleagues, Haffley makes a major misstep and loses his advantage over the White House; Jed and Haffley meet and reach an accord on the budget.

December 3, 2003

The Bartet clan attempts to gather for a holiday dinner. Jed must deal with a hostage situation in Sudan, an assisted suicide in Oregon, his son-in-law's yearn to run for the House of Representatives, and his grandson's want to spend time with his grandpa. C.J. takes a stand on the assisted suicide because of her father's worsening condition.

January 7, 2004

President Bartlet attends the funeral of a former president with other former presidents Glenallen Walken and D. Wire Newman, while monitoring a possible situation in Saudi Arabia. Josh Lyman mediates an argument between a representative from Connecticut and one from North Carolina who wants her state's copy of the Bill of Rights returned. CJ is concerned about a scientist's invention which could interfere with privacy.

January 14, 2004

In the days leading up to the State of the Union address, Toby gets crucial voter feedback when he accompanies Joey as she mall-tests the speech around the nation; Jed and the staff wrestle with the issues of presidential pardons and mandatory minimums; Charlie dates an attractive woman who's not what she seems; Joey Lucas derails Josh's plans when she arrives at the White House carrying a surprise; Jed and Abbey reach out to an old friend on the eve of his ex-wife's remarriage.

February 4, 2004

Toby gets Jed's support to seize a controversial window of opportunity to save Social Security, but is hampered by Jed's mandate to keep the operation under wraps; desperate to feed the press corps beast on a glacially slow news day, C.J. meets with an attache to discuss cabbage imports, and has a little fun with a particularly dense reporter; Josh's brainstorm to help Will burnish Bob Russell's presentation problems and a persistent reporter endanger Toby's attempts to broker a deal on the Hill; Rina finds a friend in Donna, and Josh isn't too happy about it; Toby is saved from having to fall on his sword when Josh and Jed devise a plan to rescue his deal from certain disaster.

February 11, 2004

An unlikely party comes to the aid of the administration as it seeks to discover the party responsible for nuclear testing in the Indian Ocean; Will is unhappy, but his boss doesn't seem to mind, when a request to beef up the Vice President's issue profile results in Toby's handing him boring, low-level minutae; Josh dismisses a NASA proposal for a manned Mars mission until an agency staffer shows him the error of his ways; a conservative talk show host makes a pathetic attempt to bait C.J. into appearing on his show.

February 18, 2004

When five navy E-2C Hawkeye crew members are stranded in North Korea, Bartlet orders a risky Navy Seal rescue attempt. C.J. agrees to one on one with a motormouth conservative talk show host.

February 25, 2004

He's back, Former VP John Hoynes, who resigned in sex scandal, makes a bid for political resurrection by trashing Barlet and Leo in a tell-all book. But it's C.J. who's taking the news the hardest.

March 3, 2004

When a conservative Republican Congresswoman targets Ellie's research project in an effort to discredit Jed, Toby discovers that the source of the leak is uncomfortably close to home, and Will realizes that they've all greatly underestimated his boss; Josh investigates the wisdom of a recess appointment as he tries to convince an old friend to be patient with the Sixth Circuit judicial nomination process and keep his hat in the ring; C.J. completely misreads Ben's intentions; Donna tracks down an AWOL Ryan; an opening is created on the Supreme Court; in an effort to redefine Abbey's image with the press, C.J. sets her up to do a public service announcement with the Muppets, which inspires Ellie to stand up before the press in defense of scientific research unhampered by politics.

March 24, 2004

Jed and the staff vet potential Supreme Court appointees; Toby and Andy don't see eye-to-eye on her fact-finding trip to the Middle East; Donna's parents are the unlikely inspiration for the resolution to the problems arising from the judicial confirmation process.

March 31, 2004

A documentary camera crew follows C.J. around for a not-so-typical day in the White House.

April 21, 2004

Hail the conquering hero. Josh returns after nailing down details for a trade agreement. But the devil in the detail, including information kept from Josh. C.J. fights megamedia ownership of local TV.

April 28, 2004

An airborne contamination alert locks down the West Wing, forcing staffers to stay put until the all-clear is sounded; Toby and Will face off over Will's working for the vice president; C.J. tells Donna some things she'd rather not hear about Josh and her career prospects; Leo confronts Abbey about the dangers of her recent coping mechanisms; Jed, Debbie, and Charlie are poked, prodded, and sent to the decontamination showers; Kate is initially reluctant to give Josh any information on a personal or professional level as they sit out the alert together.

May 12, 2004

Donna Moss, Percy Fitzwallace, Andrea Wyatt and a couple of congressmen are in the Middle East on a fact finding mission when their cars are blown up. President Bartlet considers possible military targets to bomb in retaliation. In flashbacks, we see Donna becoming attracted to British photojournalist Colin Ayres.

May 19, 2004

Jed weighs his options for responding to the bombing as Israeli and Palestinian forces face off against each other; Josh has an interesting reaction when Colin arrives at the hospital to visit Donna; Kate and Leo clash over the advice she's giving Jed; Josh assumes a diplomatic role when the Palestinians approach him to initiate settlement discussions; Toby and Charlie prepare a reluctant Jed for throwing out the first ball at Camden Yards; Donna's life is threatened when she develops a pulmonary embolism; Jed reflects on the days prior to his first inauguration.